When I got into genealogy -- we knew that my GGF had come over from Germany before the Civil War. I managed to find out the boat he came on and the date, and the town he was from, and finally got the microfilmed records from the tiny church in Germany. They hadn't been careful about restricting those records and so they came up into the 20th century, and I learned the names of some fifth cousins over there in the old home town, which is a Catholic town in Baden-Württemberg a bit west of Ulm. Württemberg is mostly protestant which just makes the outnumbered Catholics that much more observant.

So after my father died my Mom took me on a trip to meet the cousins, which was a lot of fun, and strained my German to the breaking point. Fortunately the daughters had studied English. At any rate when we left my going away present from cousin Anni (a farmer, a Bauernfrau) was a Zopf. That is how special that bread is. This was a rich loaf, braided just about like yours, Howie, and then lightly sugared. I was worried that customs would take it away from me but nobody bothered with it. It was delicious.

If you use Google Images to look for "Zopf" you will find many examples along with articles about "how to make a Zopf." It seems to be the term in use throughout southern Germany and Switzerland. And obviously Challah is a related bread.

For what it's worth Ulm has a Brotmuseum that is quite interesting, evidently there are clues about what sort of bread was being made in that area in Roman times, and some of it was very fanciful, weird spikey pretzel things.

Interesting, Frank - never heard of Zopf. Actually, the loaf in the photograph was a practice loaf of "St. Joseph Day" bread (March 19). I was invited to a St. Joseph Day dinner this past Sunday and was asked to bring a loaf, based on a recipe. It's a traditional Italian meatless family dinner. The recipe called for AP flour, shortening and oil and the loaf in the picture was that recipe. I wasn't crazy about the texture or the mouthfeel, so for the event I used 2 parts bread flour and 1 part Tipo 00, butter and EVOO. I also topped it with sesame seeds, but forgot to take a picture of that loaf. I liked it much better. I also made a thick crust white pizza with EVOO, Romano cheese, onions, garlic, fresh basil, sliced tomatoes, anchovies and mozzarella. There was a lot of really good food there - salads, calamari, pasta with sardines, mini omelets with dandelion greens, battered veggies, etc. and a bunch of killer desserts. This was the first time I had ever been to a St. Joseph Day dinner. Lots of fun.

PreparationCombine in a bowl the warm water, yeast, shortening, sugar, oil and salt. Let this sit for 5 minutes. In a mixing bowl put 2 1/2 cups of flour and add the yeast mixture. Beat together until all ingredients are completely blended. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a dough. Turn dough onto a floured board. Knead in more of the flour to form a stiff and smooth dough. Shape it into a ball. (Or mix dough ingredients in bread machine on "dough" setting.) Place it in a greased bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm draft free location until dough doubles in size. Punch dough down and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll each piece of dough into a 12-inch long rope. Take 3 of the ropes and braid together to form a long braid, you will get 2 loafs of bread. Place on a greased baking sheet (parchment paper), cover and let rise in a warm draft free location until double in size. Brush top with beaten egg, sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cooking sheets and cool on wire racks.

"...To undersalt deliberately in the name of dietary chic is to omit from the music of cookery the indispensable bass line over which all tastes and smells form their harmonies." -- Robert Farrar Capon

Thanks, everyone. The original recipe I obtained from: http://www.italiansrus.com/recipes/stjoebread.htm. I edited the posted recipe to show my modifications in italics. I will be making 2 more loaves of this tomorrow, as Mary Jo and I are invited to 2 more St. Joseph Day tables. That makes 3 this year and only 2 corned beef & cabbage dinners.